Surfing Waves

I've been renting since I started a few months ago, & am ready to get myself a good board. I'm going to go ahead & invest in a quality board & skip buying something like an NSP or anything similar, since I know I'm sticking with surfing & want a board that's going to last & help me progress. I'm 5'10" & 140lbs, & I have mainly been looking right in the 9' range. I consider my skill level at a low-mid level beginner (more towards the lower end). I've looked at a lot of boards from a lot of shapers & am heavily considering a board by Ricky Carroll. I've read really good reviews on them & was wondering if anyone here has had experience with one. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hello jellytaco,
I think you are making a great decision by buying a longboard to continue learning on. This will speed up your learning a lot. If I were in your shoes I would just look for a good used longboard instead of a new one. Maybe get a name brand shape if you can find one, and not worry about getting a new board. Beginners have a tendency to ding up surfboards much faster than experience surfers, so if you get a few dings on a used longboard it is not that big of a deal. If however you ding up your new Ricky Carroll board you will be bummed. Either way I think you will be stoked with your progress from sticking with a longboard. Good Luck!

tony g wrote:Hello jellytaco,
I think you are making a great decision by buying a longboard to continue learning on. This will speed up your learning a lot. If I were in your shoes I would just look for a good used longboard instead of a new one. Maybe get a name brand shape if you can find one, and not worry about getting a new board. Beginners have a tendency to ding up surfboards much faster than experience surfers, so if you get a few dings on a used longboard it is not that big of a deal. If however you ding up your new Ricky Carroll board you will be bummed. Either way I think you will be stoked with your progress from sticking with a longboard. Good Luck!

Couldn't have said it better myself. Very good advice. Good luck jellytaco.

Thanks Tony, I actually was considering a used board to begin with but for some reason after browsing through those awesome new longboards I totally forgot about looking at second hands! But I will definitely look for a good second hand board, it seems a bit challenging finding many available over here in North Carolina, but I'm determined so I'm sure it'll work out. Thanks.